Lennie's Idea of Heaven
by Citrine Rain
Summary: A visit to the former detective's grave brings about good memories and deep thoughts for four men... one shot


**Author's Note: **_The idea for this story came to me after I read an article that a community board in New York won't rename a corner after Jerry Orbach. That really ticked me off. Though I am glad he got the highest Broadway honor when the lights were dimmed for him, it still bugged me that as something as simple as a street corner wouldn't be changed just for him when he was basically the epitome of a New Yorker. He was a great actor who really made a name for himself on Broadway and TV and an overall good man who overcame his demons to be what he is today. It's funny how we go nuts about the stupidest things and people in the world for the longest time, but someone like Jerry Orbach barely gets recognition. I also threw a little more about Jack McCoy in here since Sam Waterston was kind enough to lend his support in helping to try to nudge the committee in agreeing to name the street corner for Jerry. That's why I love all three Law and Orders. The actors and actresses lend their support because they know its needed. Not because they are looking for some spotlight time. Okay enough of my schpeal. :-) This one's for you Jerry..._

_Love,_

_Jennifer  
_

* * *

It was a dreary New York City winter day. The lingering snow from a weeks ago blizzard jacketed the grass upon the cemetery meadow. It was just after 2pm…on a weekday…so not many lone faces could be seen staring at the cold stone of a name that once belonged to a life…except for one. 

He stood there…gazing. It had been a long time since he had last visited his old friend. But well, getting shot and a few months of recovery will do that to you.

"Hey partner." The man said as he kneeled down to the grave. "How's the afterlife?"

He smiled. He knew if his partner was standing right there in front of him instead of the headstone he would say something witty like "Not all its cracked up to be" or "At least I get better dates."

The African American man sat there quietly, reflecting his past cases with his former partner. While Ed Green had been the new kid in town, he was partnered with a veteran. Lennie Briscoe had been with the 27th Precinct for at least a decade if not more. Gruff, sarcastic, witty and an overall good detective with a mean streak if you pushed the wrong button Lennie knew the trade. He quickly showed Ed that as important as it was to follow protocol finding a loop hole in the system to catch a particularly bad criminal was not entirely a bad thing. Though it would cause them a good chewing out by their Lieutenant Anita Van Buren or D.A. Jack McCoy…in the end…they got their man.

"So yeah, sorry I haven't been around to see ya lately." Ed said with a sigh. "But I had this whole getting shot by a perp and then having to go through therapy and that whole mess kinda eats up your time. It sucked, remind me to brush up on avoiding bullets."

Lennie probably would have been worried sick if he had seen his partner get shot, but wouldn't show it while he had been in the hospital. By God he had seen it enough in his long career. The man had been already past sixty when Ed had been assigned to the 27 and while age had slowly crept up on Lennie, what he lacked for in speed on his feet was made up for with his sharp memory and quick wit. Unfortunately, no one can avoid the Grim Reaper when he makes his appearance. Shortly after Lennie had retired from the force, he was struck with prostate cancer that had been detected too late. A killer no one thought could beat anyone as strong as New York tough Lennie Briscoe.

"Had a few new partners." Ed continued. "Fontana came just after you left. He was cool, but he just got out. Now I have a new partner, a chick, can you believe it! Still getting to know her, but she is nice."

"And I bet Lennie is already plotting how you two should hook up." A new voice said. Ed looked up to see a tall Hispanic man looking down at him. He smiled and extended his hand.

"Rey Curtis." He said. "I guess you were my replacement."

Ed smiled and shook hands with the kind man.

"Ed Green." He said. "Yeah Lennie told me a little about you. You're the big family man he was always trying to get a date."

"Don't remind me." Rey said smacking his forehead. "After my wife and I split he believed the only source of getting on with life was hooking up. Now I know why he was divorced. What brings you here today?"

Ed sighed.

"Eh…long day. Thought I would talk it out with an old friend. You?"

"The same." Rey said. "My daughters are going through their teenage rebel stage and it's been worrying the hell out of me. My eldest just surprised me with her newly pierced tongue. I needed some air. Since Lennie had girls I figured he understands my pain."

"Ouch." Ed said. "Yep I think Lennie knew something about that."

The two stared down at the grave. They exchanged a little small talk, unknowing to them that another colleague wasn't too far away.

* * *

Staring down at the beautiful scripted gravestone a salt and peppered haired man stood. He had a pounding headache that he wanted to numb with some scotch, but it being the middle of the afternoon and him due back in court in an hour, fresh air was the only possible cure at the moment. 

"Another nasty case Claire." He said tiredly. "Double homicide, but a bunch of bull from the defendants and his idiot attorney. Any ideas on how to tackle this one?"

He normally didn't visit the grave often. Too much pain of a beautiful life taken horribly away by accident still plagued him. He blamed the death of his lover on a lot of things, but mostly himself using alcohol as his therapy. D.A. Jack McCoy missed his former A.D.A Claire Kincaid terribly and even though it had been almost 10 years since the fatal car accident in '97, the pain was still fresh. A player in his own right, Jack and much younger Claire had a relationship that turned to something more…to him anyway. Secretly he had fallen in love with her, but before any of that could have been expressed she died after she and a drunk Lennie Briscoe got into a car accident after Claire had found Lennie in a bar. Jack, stayed his cold, stern self after her death, barely expressing any emotion to anyone but himself and a bottle of scotch, but on the inside he was heartbroken.

With a sigh, he eyed his watch and saw that he should probably get back to the office and brush up on his questions to the witness who was next on the stand. Putting a small rose upon the snow in front of her grave he kissed his fingertips and brushed it gently along the beautifull scripted Claire Kincaid. He turned and walked down the hill. Just as he was about to head to his motorcycle, he remembered that Lennie's grave was surprisingly in the same cemetery as Claire's and decided to pay a quick visit to his friend. At first he blamed Lennie for being drunk and reckless when Claire was killed, but seeing how deeply guilty Lennie was and the fact that unlike many alcoholics, including himself, had actually won the battle against the bottle right after Claire died, he didn't hold a grudge against the detective.

Trying to remember where Lennie's grave was difficult. He knew he didn't have long to search for it. Suddenly the D.A. heard the sound of laughter erupting nearby and he turned to see three very familiar faces standing beside a headstone.

"Oh man, zygotes are people too?" Rey said laughing at a particular Lennie moment Ed was reiterating to the two detectives. "Dammit where did he come up with that stuff?"

"And everyone wonders where I get my sick humor!" Detective Mike Logan said. He was the first of the two other partner assigned to Lennie at the 27. Logan now worked for the Major Case squad. Mike had been a little too rough around the edges at the 27…often getting in trouble. After two transfers, Mike found his place working in the Major Case Squad. Besides, watching Robert Goran and his interesting investigating skills were too much to miss out on. Mike had also had a long day apprehending a criminal that he and his partner had been chasing around for ages, so he decided instead of celebrating in a bar that he check up on Lennie, like Ed it had been awhile for him too.

Meanwhile, all alone on the hill Jack McCoy stood seeing the detectives laugh. Sensing his presence might not have been wanted at that particular time, as well, not that he wasn't hated by the NYPD, he wasn't that much liked either. He turned around ready to head for his bike.

Out of the corner of his eye Mike saw someone move. He turned to see someone slowly walking away. He knew that walk anywhere.

"Uh oh…look who it is." Mike said quietly motioning his head towards the hill. "HEY MCCOY!!"

Jack froze.

"Damn." He muttered. Giving a kind smile, he turned to the three detectives. Mike motioned for him to come down. He trudged over.

"Well, well, shouldn't you be in court counselor?" Mike asked smugly. Jack wasn't in the mood for Mike's interesting jokes. He had been one to throw a barb or two about Jack's relationship with A.D.A's.

"Just about to go back." Jack said. "I was just visiting a friend."

All three knew who Jack was talking about; even Ed. Lennie had quietly told him about what happened that tragic night and left it at that. By the mournful look on Lennie's face Ed knew better then to ask anymore.

"So were we." Rey said. The four men stared down at Lennie's grave. It was pretty stoic and simple. It was just his name written in large letters with "beloved father and police officer" at the bottom along with his birth and death date. Lennie had kids, daughters. One had died after being shot by a drug dealer. Lennie had a lot of demons in his life, a lot of his own he had to overcome, and he did so. Not many men could do that.

"I didn't think you and Lennie were buddies McCoy?" Mike spoke up finally to Jack.

Jack gave a small smile. Like a veteran of the force, Jack was a veteran of the courtroom. Both detective and D.A. were two people criminals, cops, and lawyers alike never wanted to come in contact with. Fresh out of the academy rookies feared, but worshipped Lennie just as newbie lawyers who barely passed the bar feared and worshipped Jack. They knew their systems inside and out which gave way to some pretty hefty arguments when Jack had to question Lennie on the stand regarding cases and procedure. The two were often known to squabble here and there about who was being the bigger jackass in the courtroom.

Jack shrugged.

"We were friends in our own right." Jack said quietly. "There were times when he had to come to me asking for a warrant or something or other and we would end up have a drink before he went back out."

"Diet Coke right?" Ed said smiling. Lennie had given up good ole beer for soda and black coffee.

Jack laughed.

"Always kept an extra bottle for just him." He said. "Though I guess I should have kept it in the fridge instead of my desk drawer. He used to complain about it always being flat and too warm."

Suddenly a memory hit him.

"Though…there was this one time." Jack said. "I had just prosecuted three men who were former soldiers in Vietnam. They were responsible in the death of one of their own that had been found not too long ago. I don't remember the case too well, but what happened afterward I will never forget. Lennie was actually in the office with me when I got the call from the family of the fallen soldier who thanked us for finding the guys that did that and invited Lennie and me to the funeral."

"Did you go?" Rey asked.

Jack nodded.

"We stayed out of sight though for the sake of the family and their privacy." He said. Jack looked over at the three men. While Mike, Rey, and Ed had barely been alive during the late 60s and early seventies Jack and Lennie were both in their thirties. While they had never fought in Vietnam, they saw the tragedies it brought who Many of their friends who had gone to Vietnam came back suffering terribly from PTSD, being hated and spit on by their peers, the gone limbs, the dead eyes, constant nightmares. For Lennie and Jack that was truly a time that they never forgot.

"Lennie stood there." Jack said after quiet contemplation. "When the soldiers at the funeral handed the family the American Flag and did the twenty one gunshot salute, Lennie had his hand over his heart through the whole thing. I'll never forget that moment. He was dedicated like that."

Ed nodded.

"During a particularly strong case that had possible terrorism tied to it, Lennie was skeptical that it could have been because the man's background. We were near Ground Zero. While I argued it a little saying that I wasn't going to accuse every man of his background as being a terrorist Lennie of course agreed, but he said one thing I'll never forget…

"All I know is that there are supposed to be two towers standing there…"

Ed stood up and faced the three other faces.

"He pointed right at them." Ed said. "Lennie loved New York. This was his hometown."

"Now I'm not particularly religious." Mike began. "But let's think about this one. What do you guys suppose Lennie's idea of Heaven is like?"

Interesting question coming from the somewhat smart mouthed detective.

The men thought for a moment then Rey started laughing.

"Well, he'd want them to make sure they'd have enough black coffee!" He said.

"Old girlfriends that he dumped, but didn't dump him!" Ed said laughing.

"ESPN for his baseball!" Jack added remembering how he and Lennie often discussed Yankees vs. Mets stats during one of their sit downs.

The men were laughing now remembering all the things that were Lennie's idea of a perfect heaven.

"I got one." Mike said. "Lennie's perfect Heaven would be….Manhattan on a spring day, a cold drink in his hand, some blues playing on a radio, and his daughter by his side."

The men smiled, though they felt a tinge of pain as they each fell silent. In a nutshell….THAT was Lennie Briscoe's idea of a perfect Heaven.

"You know what his perfect Heaven is!" A new voice erupted. "A PERFECT HEAVEN IS HIM WITH MY EX-WIFE GWEN WHILE I ROT IN MY MISERY IN OLD AGE!"

The men groaned. They knew that voice.

"Hello John." Jack said quietly shaking his head.

"Munch your ex is still alive." Mike told the former Baltimore Homicide detective turned New York City Special Victim's Unit detective, John Munch. Also an old aquantaince of Lennie's his ex Gwen had a relationship with Lennie. While that hatchet had been buried a long time ago, Munch still reeled in it.

"Yeah, but I bet Lennie is already making bets with the Big Guy up there to let me live till I am 110 in diapers and drooling while Gwen and Lennie get to live in paradise up above.

The detectives and the D.A. sighed at the sunglasses adorned detective.

"So then why are you here?" Ed asked.

Munch lowered his sunglasses.

"Same as all of you." He said. "Playing hooky…paying my respects to a colleague."

"He stole your wife, how the hell does that make him a colleague?" Rey said.

Munch lowered his head letting his glasses fall a little off his nose.

"Water on the bridge my friend, water under the bridge. Besides I figure if I'm nice enough, maybe Lennie will throw in a few good words for me."

Jack rolled his eyes. Yup, definitely time to leave.

"I need to get back to the office." He said turning on his heel. "See ya. Take care Lennie."

"Likewise." Rey said. "I gotta pick up my girls from before they go and pick up some boys. Bye partner, see you soon. Nice seeing you guys."

Ed and Mike also took their leave giving their farewells to Lennie kindly and warmly leaving John Munch alone with the headstone.

"So yeah…about those few good words Briscoe…."


End file.
